Providing an item of content to a mobile device in a prepaid context

ABSTRACT

Methods and products for providing an item of content to a mobile device in a prepaid context by way of a wireless telecommunications network are provided. One embodiment of a method includes receiving an indication that the item of content is desired to be communicated to a mobile device (which is associated with a certain customer); determining that the customer obtains wireless-telecommunications services by way of either a piecemeal plan or a recurring-fees plan; when the customer is associated with the piecemeal plan, determining that a remaining amount of the prepaid balance is insufficient to pay for the desired content (and thereby triggering a first follow-up process); and when the customer is associated with the recurring plan, determining that an immediate-payment option does not exist (and thereby triggering a second follow-up process).

SUMMARY

Embodiments of our technology are defined by the claims below, not thissummary. A high-level overview of various aspects of our technology areprovided here for that reason, to provide an overview of the disclosure,and to introduce a selection of concepts that are further describedbelow in the detailed-description section. This summary is not intendedto identify key features or essential features of the claimed subjectmatter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in isolation todetermine the scope of the claimed subject matter. In brief and at ahigh level, this disclosure describes, among other things, ways tofacilitate providing an item or set of items of content to a mobiledevice in a prepaid context when there is no way to contemporaneouslypay for the items when payment is required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the our technology are described in detailbelow with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative device suitable for use in connectionwith an embodiment of our technology;

FIG. 2A depicts an illustrative operating environment suitable forpracticing an embodiment of our technology;

FIG. 2B depicts illustrative customer-profile information according toan embodiment of our technology;

FIG. 2C depicts an illustrative set of follow-up information accordingto an embodiment of our technology;

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative data-flow diagram suitable for practicingan embodiment of our technology; and

FIGS. 4-6 depict illustrative methods of providing an item of content toa mobile device in a prepaid context according to embodiments of ourtechnology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present technology is described withspecificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, thedescription itself is not intended to define the technology, which iswhat the claims do. Rather, the claimed subject matter might be embodiedin other ways to include different steps or combinations of stepssimilar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction withother present or future technologies. Moreover, although the term “step”or other generic term might be used herein to connote differentcomponents or methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted asimplying any particular order among or between various steps hereindisclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps isexplicitly described.

Throughout this disclosure, several acronyms and shorthand notations areused to aid the understanding of certain concepts pertaining to theassociated system and services. These acronyms and shorthand notationsare solely intended for the purpose of providing an easy methodology ofcommunicating the ideas expressed herein and are in no way meant tolimit the scope of the present technology. The following is a list ofthese acronyms:

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange AFB AmericanFoundation for the Blind CDMA Code Division Multiple Access GPRS GeneralPacket Radio Service GSM Global System for Mobile communications:originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile IP Internet Protocol Piecemeal Aprepaid scenario in which a customer provides plan in advance a paymentamount that is billed against as telecommunications services are usedsuch that when the sum reaches zero (or some minimum threshold), adefined set of services (possibly all) are no longer available until thecustomer provides additional funds. This is sometimes referred to in theart as pay-as-you go (or “paygo” for shot) model. Prepaid A scenario inwhich a customer makes a payment in advance for wirelesstelecommunications services. A credit card can be kept on file in somecases. Recurring- A prepaid scenario in which a customer provides feesplan in advance a payment amount in order to receive a set oftelecommunications services until a certain date occurs. Examplesinclude monthly unlimited plans or some cyclical not-to-exceed plans.TDMA Time Division Multiple Access UMTS Universal MobileTelecommunications System

Further, various technical terms are used throughout this description.An illustrative resource that fleshes out various aspects of these termscan be found in Newton's Telecom Dictionary by H. Newton, 24th Edition(2008).

Embodiments of our technology may be embodied as, among other things: amethod, system, or set of instructions embodied on one or morecomputer-readable media. Computer-readable media include both volatileand nonvolatile media, removable and nonremovable media, and contemplatemedia readable by a database, a switch, and various other networkdevices. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable mediacomprise media implemented in any method or technology for storinginformation. Examples of stored information include computer-useableinstructions, data structures, program modules, and other datarepresentations. Media examples include, but are not limited toinformation-delivery media, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or othermemory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile discs (DVD), holographicmedia or other optical disc storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage, and other magnetic storage devices. Thesetechnologies can store data momentarily, temporarily, or permanently.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an illustrative mobilecomputing device (“mobile device”) is provided and referenced generallyby the numeral 100. Although some components are shown in the singular,they may be plural. For example, mobile device 100 might includemultiple processors or multiple radios, etc. As illustratively shown,mobile device 100 includes a bus 110 that directly or indirectly couplesvarious components together including memory 112, a processor 114, apresentation component 116, a radio 117, input/output ports 118,input/output components 120, and a power supply 122.

We have previously described various memory components that memory 112might take the form of. Thus, we will not elaborate more here, only tosay that memory component 112 can include any type of medium that iscapable of storing information (e.g., a database). A database can be anycollection of records. In one embodiment, memory 112 includes a set ofembodied computer-executable instructions 113 that, when executed,facilitate various aspects disclosed herein. These embodied instructionswill variously be referred to as “instructions 113” or “application 113”for short.

Processor 114 might actually be multiple processors that receiveinstructions and process them accordingly. Presentation component 116includes the likes of a display, a speaker, as well as other componentsthat can present information (such as a lamp (LED), or even lightedkeyboards).

Radio 117 represents a radio that facilitates communication with awireless telecommunications network. Illustrative wirelesstelecommunications technologies include CDMA, GPRS, TDMA, GSM, and thelike (including what is known in the art as WiMax technology and alsoLong Term Evolution (LTE). In some embodiments, radio 117 might alsofacilitate other types of wireless communications including Wi-Ficommunications and GIS communications.

Input/output port 118 might take on a variety of forms. Illustrativeinput/output ports include a USB jack, stereo jack, infrared port,proprietary communications ports, and the like. Input/output components120 include items such as keyboards, microphones, touch screens, and anyother item usable to directly or indirectly input data into mobiledevice 110. Power supply 122 includes items such as batteries, fuelcells, or any other component that can act as a power source to powermobile device 100.

Turning now to FIG. 2A, an illustrative operating environment suitablefor practicing an embodiment of our technology is provided andreferenced generally by the numeral 210. Operating environment 210includes a mobile communications device 212 (which might variously bereferred to herein as a mobile device, mobile computing device, or justdevice depending on readability). Mobile device 212 includes anapplication 214 that takes the form of a set of computer-executableinstructions embodied on one or more types of computer-readable mediathat we previously mentioned.

Mobile device 212 communicates via wireless communications 216 with abase transceiver 218. BTS 218 is representative of variouswireless-telecommunications devices that facilitate communications withmobile device 212. Other components that interact with BTS 218 are notshown so as to not obscure other aspects of our technology. For example,items such as a radio-network controller and other devices are notshown. In one embodiment, BTS 218 is coupled to a network-access server220, which provides access to other portions of a wirelesstelecommunications network. In one embodiment, network-access server 220includes a set of embodied computer-executable instructions(“application”) 222. Although we might use the term “application”throughout this document, when we do we are referring to a set ofcomputer-executable instructions that are embodied on one or more typesof computer-readable media as previously mentioned. Network-accessserver 220 receives requests to access a wireless telecommunicationsnetwork, and in some embodiments facilitates actions such as receivingan IP address to be allocated to mobile-communications device 212,authorizing communications with other components in the wirelesstelecommunications network, and other functions. In some embodiments,network-access server 220 performs functions identical to or similar toa foreign agent or similar device.

In the embodiment shown, network-access server 220 is coupled to arequest-management server 224, which receives requests from mobiledevice 212 to obtain one or more items of interest. The items ofinterest can be stored in an items database 226, which might take theform of multiple databases even though only one is shown. This is truewith many components of FIG. 2A. That is, although only a single blockitem is shown, we do not mean to imply a sense of singular versusplural. Although only one request-management server is shown, in realityit might be the case that embodiments of our technology employ tens orhundreds of such servers. If we attempted to show all the variousarrangements, that would obscure other aspects of our technology. Arange of different types of items can be stored in items database 226.For example, items database 226 might store ring tones, songs, videos,clip art, music art, screensavers, books, services, and the like. Insome situations, links to such items are stored instead of the itemsthemselves. For example, an illustrative Table 228 shows that one way ofstoring items is by way of a data structure that includes an itemidentifier 230 as well as an item description 232.

For example, an illustrative ring tone (symphony ring tone) isidentified by item identifier “001234567.” By way of a second example, agame 268 (World Builder Game) is identified by item identifier“009874653.” We do not attempt to depict the many thousands or evenmillions of items of content that could be downloaded to mobile device212. Moreover, the data stored in items database 226 might be of aformat akin to that shown by illustration 234 or might be stored in someother manner. We do not mean to imply that representation 234 is narrowin nature or restrictive. It is not. It is provided so that discussingaspects of our technology is made easier. Many other data items could bestored in Table 228 or stored across a variety of tables in ahierarchical or relational database. For example, in the case of music,metadata such as a title, size, artist, etc. could be stored. In thecase of a game, data such as a rating, a skill level, etc. could bestored.

Returning to request-management server 224, as mentioned, it receivesrequests for items of interest. In one embodiment, these requests aremanaged by way of an application 236 that monitors requests for content.As will be explained in greater detail below, request-management server224 stores or has access to another data structure 238, which storesfollow-up details and is described in greater detail in FIG. 2C.Request-management server 224 also has access to a customer-profilesdatabase 240, which stores customer-profile information that isgenerally associated with mobile device 212. For example,customer-profiles database might store a data structure 242, which isshown in greater detail in FIG. 2B, which we will turn briefly to so asto provide an example of the type of information stored incustomer-profiles databases in one or more embodiments.

Turning to FIG. 2B, what is shown as Table 240 might actually be a setof tables or other data structures that provide access to theinformation items shown in representation 242, which is a graphicalrepresentation of the contents in Table 240. Representation 242 storescustomer-profile information. Again, this information might not actuallybe stored in the same table, but is shown here in more simple terms tohelp explain aspects of embodiments of our technology. By way ofexample, customer-profile information includes a customer ID 244, a plantype 246, a recurring-date indication 248, an amount of remaining funds250, and credit card information 252. Customer identifier 244 identifiesa customer. That is, customers consume wireless-telecommunicationservices. Generally, customers are associated with user devices. Forexample, a certain customer might be associated with mobile device 212.A customer ID 244 could take on a variety of forms. In one embodiment,the customer ID is the user's telephone number. In the case where amobile device 212 is not a telephone, a customer ID could be any streamcapable of identifying a user associated with mobile device 212.

Plan-type indicator 246 indicates a type of plan associated with a user.Two illustrative plans include a piecemeal plan 270 as well as arecurring-fees plan 254. A piecemeal 270 plan is a prepaid scenario inwhich a customer provides in advance a payment amount that is billedagainst as telecommunication services are used such that when the sumreaches zero (or some minimal threshold), a defined set of services(possibly all) are no longer available until the customer providesadditional funds. This is sometimes referred to in the art as apay-as-you-go (or “paygo” for short) model. A recurring-fees plan 254 isa prepaid scenario in which a customer provides in advance a paymentamount in order to receive a set of telecommunication services until acertain date occurs. Examples include monthly unlimited plans or monthlynot-to-exceed plans. Thus, plan-type indicator 246 indicates whether acustomer is on a piecemeal, recurring-fees plan, or other if applicable.

The recurring-date field 248 stores an indication of a date 256 thatrecurring fees are due. For example, a user might be on a monthlyunlimited plan in which payment is expected by October 23rd if servicesare to continue uninterrupted. Because the setting for this technologyis a prepaid context (a scenario in which a customer makes a payment inadvance for wireless telecommunication services), there is a date inwhich services will no longer be provided if funds are no longerprovided by the customer. Thus, a user might miss the October 23rd date.But if the user does not miss the October 23rd date, and providesadditional funds, then the user will be able to continue to utilize agiven set of wireless telecommunications services. Generally, this fieldis not applicable in connection with a piecemeal plan. This is becausegenerally a piecemeal plan contemplates a certain quantity oftelecommunication services that can be used without an expiration dateper se. For example, a person might purchase 500 minutes of usage. Theywould be entitled to spread out usage of those 500 minutes irrespectiveof a time horizon (which might be capped in some cases).

Remaining-balance indicator 250 indicates either a remaining balance, ora remaining quantity of items such as minutes or kilobytes of data, orsome other measure. For example, in the case of a piecemeal plan, theremaining-balance indicator 250 might indicate a number of minutes thata person has left to use. In another embodiment, remaining-balanceindicator 250 indicates a dollar balance. In such a situation, a usermight have paid for say $50 of usage. This would entitle the user to useperhaps as many minutes, bytes of data, content, etc. until the $50 runsout. Generally, this field is not applicable when used in connectionwith a recurring-fees plan. This is because in a recurring-fees model auser has paid a fixed amount for a fixed, sometimes unlimited, amount ofusage until some date.

Immediate-payment-information field 252 can store information that isusable to immediately purchase an item of content in some cases. In manycases, there will be no information in this field because many customersin a prepaid context will not store something such as a credit card onfile. They will prepay for their services, and provide no way to pay foranything not agreed upon at the time of the prepayment. But in somecases information such as credit-card information might be stored, andin those cases it is stored in field 252.

Returning to FIG. 2A, request-management server 224 is also coupled toone or more billing components, which are illustratively represented bynumeral 244. Billing components 244 could include a complete billingsystem, the details of which go beyond the scope of this disclosure. Thefunctionality provided by billing components 244 is to log informationassociated with billing a customer in connection with attempting toobtain desired items of content from, for example, items database 226.

Many of the items in FIG. 2A that are shown as a single representation(or box) might actually be multiple items in an implementation. Forexample, request-management server 224 itself might be made up ofmultiple components instead of just a single component. And, asmentioned, the items database 226 and customer profiles database 242each might be made up of various databases, but we show onerepresentation to make explaining aspects of the technology simpler.Similarly, we do not mean to imply that the connections of FIG. 2A aredirect connections. For example, various components would lie betweennetwork-access server 220 and request-management server 224. Similarly,different types of components would lie between request-managementserver 224 and billing components 244. Sometimes these intermediarycomponents might even be owned by different entities, which worktogether to receive and provide some of the different portions ofinformation that we discuss.

As briefly mentioned in the summary, an embodiment of our technologyfacilitates a method of providing an item of content to a mobile devicein a prepaid context by way of a wireless-telecommunications network (aportion of which is shown in FIG. 2A). An aspect of the prepaid modelfor providing wireless telecommunication services contemplates ascenario in which a customer makes a payment in advance for suchservices. Usually a customer will pay for a set of services, and that isit. Thus, in some situations there is no mechanism to provide additionalservices to the user because there is no way to contemporaneouslyreceive payment for such additional services. It is in this prepaidsetting that aspects of our technology can be applied to enrich theuser's experience by providing a way for customers to receive desiredcontent.

By way of example, consider someone who is on a recurring-fees plan.This is a plan that contemplates a certain amount of service to beprovided for a certain amount of time. As mentioned, sometimes thisincludes monthly unlimited plans. Thus, a user on an unlimited plan willreceive access to an unlimited amount of one or more services providedby a wireless-telecommunications provider until some date, whereasaccess to certain types of services is unlimited, users generally do nothave access to all content in all places at all times. For example,users might be allowed to speak for an unlimited number of minutes in arecurring-fees plan. But this does not mean that they are able todownload an unlimited or even a single ring tone without paying for it.This is because ring tones might not be included within the scope of therecurring-fees plan. Similarly, other items such as those that exist initems database 226 are also not included. Users may not be able todownload games, screensavers, songs, etc. without paying for them. Butbecause this is a prepaid context, there might not be a way for a userto contemporaneously pay for the desired items. If the plan were not aprepaid plan, then a user would find a desired song, for example,request it, and it would be communicated to the user's device. Thiswould be possible because the user would be billed for this exchangeafterwards; that is, after the item of content has been delivered to theuser's mobile device.

But in a prepaid context, items and services are paid for before theyare made accessible to a user. Thus, continuing with our propheticexample, a user on a recurring-fees plan would manifest a desire toobtain a desired item of content, which, for purposes of this example,we will assume is a certain ring tone. There are a variety of ways thata user might manifest an interest in the ring tone (or any item ofcontent). By way of example, mobile device 212 might be used to navigateto a storefront such as a website that presents an option to obtain thering tone. In some embodiments, the user might attempt to actuallyobtain the ring tone; in other embodiments, the user might select tohear a preview of the ring tone. Either of these might be considered arequest, and aspects of our technology can be configured by the user insome embodiments, or can be handled at implementation. For example, thetechnology might be set up such that reminders are provided consistentwith our technology incident to actual requests for purchase. Thus, theuser might attempt to purchase the desired ring tone. Doing so wouldtrigger a request to be received by request-management server 224 forthe item of content. Incident to receiving the request,request-management server 224 would query customer-profiles database 240to determine customer-profile information associated with device 212. Ifthe customer in our example was associated with identifier “55667788”(FIG. 2B), then request-management server 224 would learn that thecustomer is on a recurring-fees plan as indicated by reference numeral254.

Request-management server 224 would also reference items database 226 todetermine information associated with the received request. For example,request-management server 224 might retrieve the item identifier and/oran item description or other information that is to be logged infollow-up details 238. The follow-up details 238 are details that are tobe used in connection with providing a follow-up reminder to mobiledevice 212. For example, this particular customer's recurring date isOctober 23rd, as shown by reference numeral 256 of FIG. 2B. According toan embodiment of our technology, customer-profile information 240 wouldindicate that this customer is not permitted to currently obtain theitem of interest, and would thus store information that is usable toprovide a reminder at an opportune time, such as some period of timebefore the customer's recurring date. Request-management server 224might communicate to mobile device 212 that it is not authorized toobtain the content. But later as October 23rd approaches,request-management server 224 would send a reminder to mobile device 212to include sufficient funds so as to enable a purchase of the desireditem of content. In one embodiment, the reminder sent would include alink that, if acted on, would immediately provide the item of interestto mobile device 212. Some illustrative examples of an amount of timebefore a customer's recurring date are one day, two days, three days,and the like. In other embodiments, multiple messages can be sent tomobile device 212.

Turning now to FIG. 2C, a representation 258 is provided that shows in ahigh-level form illustrative aspects of follow-up information accordingto an embodiment of our technology. We do not mean to imply thatrepresentation 258 is narrow or restrictive in nature, but only toprovide an indication of some functional aspects associated with ourtechnology so that explaining it can be done easier. In this way,follow-up information might include some condition 260 as well as anaction to be carried out 262. For example, if two days was adopted as areminder time frame, then a condition 260 that would be applicable tothe prophetic example that we have been discussing would be that dateitself; namely, “October 21st,” which is indicated by reference numeral264. Thus when October 21st arrives, the specific action 266 would becarried out, which would entail sending a reminder message to device 212to add supplemental funds that would be sufficient to pay for both thedesired services of next month and/or the item of content desired, whichin this case is a certain ring tone. Instead of paying $99, for example,the reminder might include a message that encourages the user to provide$101 worth of credit, thereby leaving $2 to pay for a $2 ring tone, forexample,

In other embodiments, the sending of the reminder might be triggered byan addition of funds automatically. That is, if a user were to go online or enter a storefront and for some reason add say $10 of credit,then as soon as that amount of credit is registered by billingcomponents 244, request-management server 224 would send a remindernotification to mobile device 212 with a link to the desired ring tone(or other item of interest). In this way, a user would need to onlyclick on the link, which would include embedded information that wouldautomatically facilitate receiving and communicating the ring tone tomobile device 212. The link might include the item identifier so thatthe item could be automatically obtained and sent to mobile device 212.

Another prophetic example would include a scenario where the user ofdevice 212 was on a piecemeal plan. In this case, a user might attemptto purchase the “World Builder game” 268 of FIG. 2A. Thus, the requestwould ultimately be received by request-management server 224, whichwould reference the appropriate customer-profile information incustomer-profiles database 240 to determine that this customer is on apiecemeal plan, which is indicated by reference numeral 270 in thisexample. Request-management server 224 would also learn that thiscustomer's remaining balance 272 is only $2.41, which is less than theamount necessary to purchase the “World Builder Game” 268, which we willsay is $4 for purposes of explanation. With no way to contemporaneouslypay for the desired item of interest, request-management server 224might communicate a message to device 212 that insufficient funds existto purchase the game and also include an indication of an amount offunds necessary to be added in order to purchase the game. Thisreminder, as well as a follow-up reminder, could include a link that isprepopulated with the corresponding item identifier so that whensufficient funds are available, acting on the link is sufficient to havethe game (or any other content) communicated to mobile device 212.

Now say that the user mobile device 212 provides $10 of additional fundsto his or her account. The remaining balance would be increased to$12.41, which being sufficient to obtain the $4 “World Builder Game,”would automatically trigger the sending of a reminder to mobile device212 that includes a link to purchase the item of content. In someembodiments, a link might not be included. But to help create a betteruser experience, in some embodiments a link is included.

Turning now to FIG. 3, an illustrative flow diagram that illustrates anembodiment of our technology is provided. FIG. 3 includesrepresentations of a mobile device 310, a request-management server 312,a profiles database 314 that stores profile information of users, anitems database 316 that stores information associated with items thatcan be communicated to mobile device 310, and a billing system 318. At astep 320, an items request 322 is communicated from mobile device 310 torequest-management server 312. Request 322 might not be a request toobtain a desired item per se. In some embodiments, request 322 takes theform of a request for information. This might be a link that providesinformation about or a preview of some item of content.

At a step 324, a request 326 for information about a customer associatedwith mobile device 310 is communicated to profiles database 314 to theextent it is not a part of request-management server 224. The request326 for customer information would include a request for different typesof information in different embodiments. Not all requests need to be thesame. For example, request 326 might include a request for an indicationof a type of service plan associated with mobile device 310. Request 326might also be a generic request for information, which is provided basedon a set of rules. For example, whenever request 326 is received atprofiles database 314 (or a server associated with profiles database314), that request is responded to by providing a predefined set ofcustomer information. In other embodiments, request 326 includesspecific requests for certain types of information.

At a step 328, customer information 330 is provided torequest-management server 312, which will be able to use the information330 to create a response that will be sent to mobile device 310. Asalluded to, customer information 330 can include various types ofinformation according to various embodiments of our technology. In oneembodiment, customer information 330 includes an indication of the typeof service plan associated with mobile device 310. Customer information330 might also include an indication of a recurring date that funds arereplenished in a recurring-fees scenario, a remaining balance that isavailable, and possibly immediate-payment information. Although we showdifferent requests being sent from certain devices to certain devices,we do not mean to imply that the requests are necessarily generated bythe devices shown per se. Moreover, the requests are not necessarilydirect requests that are sent directly to the different items. Theremight be intervening items that facilitate the communication of datadescribed in FIG. 3. We include the communications paths of FIG. 3 tohelp illustrate aspects of our technology rather than to constrainembodiments to the drawing provided. Still further, we do not mean toimply a specific order in the steps shown. For example, the request 326for customer information might come after a request 334 for iteminformation.

At a step 332, a request 334 is made for information about the item ofinterest. At a step 336, information 338 about the item is provided torequest-management server 312. In one embodiment, item information 338includes information such as an item identifier, an item description,metadata that describes the item, a title, a genre, a file size, andother similar attributes that are associated with the item. In otherembodiments, information 338 is only an item identifier, which issufficient to uniquely identify the item of content. This informationwill also be used in one embodiment to create a response that will becommunicated to mobile device 310.

At a step 340, a request 342 for billing information is communicated toa billing system 318. This step does not need to be performed in allembodiments (similar to others). For example, in some embodiments theinformation 346 that is provided from the billing system at a step 344is obtained by way of customer information 330. But in otherembodiments, information such as a billing plan or amount of remainingbalance is included within billing information 346. But as mentioned, inother embodiments it is included as part of customer information 330.

At a step 348, request-management server 312 creates a response at astep 350 that is to be communicated to mobile device 310. In oneembodiment, the response 352 is created based on one or more of thecustomer information 330 obtained, the item information 338, and/orbilling information 346. The response 352 can include a hyperlink to theitem of interest. In other embodiments, a hyperlink is not included.Response 352 provides an indication to mobile device 310 that there iscurrently no way to contemporaneously pay for the item of interest. Itcan include an indication of an amount that is required to be providedthat would enable purchase of the item of interest. It could alsoinclude a reminder to add an additional amount of funds at a certaindate so that the item of interest can be purchased.

At a step 354, the request-management server 312 logs reminderinformation, such as that of FIG. 2C. The reminder information is usedto send a reminder 358 at a step 356 at some point in the future. Forexample, if the user is on a recurring-fees plan, then the reminder willbe sent a few days prior to a time when the user is to provide anothercycle's worth of funds. If the user is on a piecemeal plan, thenreminder 358 could be sent immediately upon determining that sufficientfunds exist to purchase the item of content. This would be the scenarioshown in FIG. 3 in which a sufficient hike in funds notice 362 iscommunicated from billing system 318 at a step 360.

Turning now to FIG. 4, an illustrative method of providing an item ofcontent to a mobile device in a prepaid context is provided andreferenced generally by the numeral 400. At a step 410, an indication isreceived that an item of content is desired to be communicated to amobile device, which is associated with a certain customer. Thus, a userof a mobile device such as 212 communicates an indication that an itemof content is interesting to him or her. This can happen by way ofbrowsing at a storefront or other website or Internet location by way ofthe mobile device 212. At a step 412, a determination is made as to atype of service plan associated with mobile device 212. In oneembodiment, if mobile device 212 is associated with a piecemeal plan,then processing advances to a step 414, in which a determination is madethat a remaining amount of a prepaid balance is insufficient to pay forthe desired content. Thus, if only $2 remains in a balance of anaccountholder, but the item of interest costs $5, then at a step 416 acontent indication is stored that indicates the item of content. Forexample, one of the item identifiers in box 234 of FIG. 2A would bestored. At an opportune time, a reminder 418 is communicated to mobiledevice 212 that the item of content can be obtained by way of ahyperlink embedded in the reminder. In other embodiments, based onconfiguration, the content could be obtained automatically. For example,if a user configured his or her account to purchase items of contentthat have been requested as soon as sufficient funds have been provided,then as soon as those funds are made available the content isautomatically obtained without user intervention. In some embodiments,if a customer does not fund the account within a certain number of days(i.e. 30, 45, 365, etc.), then the stored purchasedtransactions/attempts/reminder info expire and are removed. Whereasinformation related to all failed transactions can be stored in oneembodiment, in others, only the N most recent are stored (such as 3, 10,50, etc.), which is also applicable to an unlimited scenario.

Returning to determination step 412, if mobile device 212 is associatedwith a recurring-fees plan, then a determination is made that animmediate-payment option does not exist at a step 420. For example,there is no credit card on file and there are no additional funds in theuser's account to pay for the item desired. In this case, a remindercould be generated and at a step 422 sent to the mobile device so as toremind a viewer to add enough funds to pay for the item of content. Inthis way, a user is able to obtain the item of content becausesufficient funds will be added in addition to a recurring amount thatwill enable the item of interest to be obtained.

Turning now to FIG. 5, another illustrative method of providing an itemof content to a mobile device in a prepaid context is provided. In thisembodiment, an indication that a mobile device requested an item ofcontent is received at a step 510. Thus, it might be the case that therequest is not received at the request-management server first. In anycase, eventually an indication of the request is received at a devicesuch as request-management server 224.

At a step 512, some sort of delivery-prevention indication is receivedthat indicates that the item of content cannot be sent to the mobiledevice because of the lack of an ability to pay for the item. When thisoccurs, a follow-up process is initiated, which is to be carried out atsome point in the future at a step 514.

We have previously described some options for different types offollow-up processes. For example, in one embodiment, incident toreceiving notice that the remaining amount of the prepaid balance islarge enough to pay for the item of content, a message is communicatedto the mobile device that includes a reminder to purchase the item ofcontent. In another embodiment, after a failed purchase attempt butprior to the remaining amount becoming a sufficient amount, sending apreorder request to the mobile device that, if accepted, will cause theitem of content to be purchased immediately when the remaining amountbecomes a sufficient amount. In still another embodiment, the contentcan be automatically purchased without any user interaction when theremaining amount becomes the sufficient amount. A user might configurethis out of convenience, and our technology would provide the same.

Turning now to FIG. 6, still another method of providing an item ofcontent to a mobile device in a prepaid context is provided andreferenced generally by the numeral 610. At a step 612, a request forsome item of content is sent from a mobile device such as mobile device212. This request is communicated through a wireless telecommunicationsnetwork and leads to a determination that insufficient funds exist toenable the content to be communicated to the mobile device. In this way,when at least one of two conditions is satisfied a follow-upcommunication is automatically received at a step 614 that includes alink to the item of content. One of the conditions is indicated byreference numeral 616 in which an indication that sufficient funds nowexist to purchase the item of content is received. For example, this isshown in step 360 of FIG. 3. Another possible condition that could besatisfied is the arrival of a date 610 within a threshold time periodbefore a next-payment date. Thus, if a person's next-payment date isNovember 6th, for example, then as soon as November 2nd or 3rd, etc.arrives, then a reminder such as reminder 358 can be communicated tomobile device 310. And as mentioned, this reminder can include a link insome embodiments that, if acted on, would take a user directly to theitem of content and when sufficient funds are available even enable apurchase.

Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as wellas components not shown, are possible without departing from the scopeof the claims below. Embodiments of our technology have been describedwith the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternativeembodiments will become apparent to readers of this disclosure after andbecause of reading it. Alternative means of implementing theaforementioned can be completed without departing from the scope of theclaims below. Certain features and subcombinations are of utility andmay be employed without reference to other features and subcombinationsand are contemplated within the scope of the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. Non-transitory computer-readable mediahaving computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, whenexecuted, facilitate a method of providing an item of content to amobile device in a prepaid context by way of a wirelesstelecommunications network; the method comprising: receiving anindication that the item of content is desired to be communicated to amobile device that is associated with a certain customer; determiningthat the customer obtains wireless-telecommunications services accordingto one of the following plans: (1) (1) a piecemeal plan, in which aprepaid balance is billed against; or (2) a recurring-fees plan, inwhich a services prepayment is to be received by a certain date; whenthe customer is associated with the piecemeal plan, determining that aremaining amount of the prepaid balance is insufficient to pay for thedesired content, and thereby triggering a first follow-up process,wherein the first follow-up process includes: storing a contentindication that indicates the item of content; and one or more of thefollowing, (1) incident to receiving notice that the remaining amount ofthe prepaid balance is large enough to pay for the item of content,communicating a message to the mobile device that includes a reminder topurchase the item of content wherein the message includes an actionablelink that, if acted on, facilitates a purchase of the item of content;(2) after a failed purchase attempt but prior to the remaining amountbecoming a sufficient amount, communicating a pre-order request to themobile device that, if accepted, will cause the item of content to bepurchased immediately when the remaining amount becomes the sufficientamount; and (3) automatically purchasing the content without any userinteraction when the remaining amount becomes the sufficient amount; andwhen the customer is associated with the recurring plan, determiningthat an immediate-payment option does not exist, and thereby triggeringa second follow-up process.
 2. The computer-readable media of claim 1,wherein the item of content includes one or more of the following: agame; a ring tone; a song; a media clip; a file; and a service offering.3. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the indicationincludes a purchase request.
 4. The computer-readable media of claim 1,wherein the determining includes referencing a customer-profilesdatabase that includes information that indicates a type of service planthat the customer is associated with.
 5. The computer-readable media ofclaim 1, wherein the prepaid balance is reduced as at least a portion ofthe wireless telecommunications services are used.
 6. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 5, wherein the at least a portion ofthe wireless telecommunications services includes one or more of thefollowing: minutes of usage of voice; minutes of usage of data services;a quantity of data communication; a number of text messages; a number ofemails; and a number of picture mails.
 7. The computer-readable media ofclaim 1, wherein the services prepayment is an advanced payment that isreceived prior to services usage.
 8. The computer-readable media ofclaim 7, wherein the certain date is a date that occurs at regularintervals.
 9. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the secondfollow-up process includes communicating to the mobile device afunds-addition reminder that serves to remind a viewer to add an amountof funds sufficient to pay for the item of content.
 10. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the communicating thefunds-addition reminder occurs within a threshold time period prior tothe certain date.
 11. The computer-readable media of claim 10 whereinthe threshold time period is three days.
 12. A computer-implementedmethod of providing an item of content to a mobile device in a prepaidcontext by way of a wireless telecommunications network; the methodcomprising: receiving an indication that the item of content is desiredto be communicated to a mobile device that is associated with a certaincustomer; determining that the customer obtainswireless-telecommunications services according to one of the followingplans: (1) a piecemeal plan, in which a prepaid balance is billedagainst; or (2) a recurring-fees plan, in which a services prepayment isto be received by a certain date; when the customer is associated withthe piecemeal plan, determining that a remaining amount of the prepaidbalance is insufficient to pay for the desired content, and therebytriggering a first follow-up process, wherein the first follow-upprocess includes: storing a content indication that indicates the itemof content; and one or more of the following: (1) incident to receivingnotice that the remaining amount of the prepaid balance is large enoughto pay for the item of content, communicating a message to the mobiledevice that includes a reminder to purchase the item of content whereinthe message includes an actionable link that, if acted on, facilitates apurchase of the item of content; (2) after a failed purchase attempt butprior to the remaining amount becoming a sufficient amount,communicating a pre-order request to the mobile device that, ifaccepted, will cause the item of content to be purchased immediatelywhen the remaining amount becomes the sufficient amount; and (3)automatically purchasing the content without any user interaction whenthe remaining amount becomes the sufficient amount; and when thecustomer is associated with the recurring plan, determining that animmediate-payment option does not exist, and thereby triggering a secondfollow-up process.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the item ofcontent includes one or more of the following: a game; a ring tone; asong; a media clip; a file; and a service offering.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the indication includes a purchase request.
 15. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the determining includes referencing acustomer-profiles database that includes information that indicates atype of service plan that the customer is associated with.
 16. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the prepaid balance is reduced as at least aportion of the wireless telecommunications services are used.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the at least a portion of the wirelesstelecommunications services includes one or more of the following:minutes of usage of voice; minutes of usage of data services; a quantityof data communication; a number of text messages; a number of emails;and a number of picture mails.
 18. A computer system having processorsand memories configured to execute a method of providing an item ofcontent to a mobile device in a prepaid context by way of a wirelesstelecommunications network; the method comprising: receiving anindication that the item of content is desired to be communicated to amobile device that is associated with a certain customer; determiningthat the customer obtains wireless-telecommunications services accordingto one of the following plans: (1) a piecemeal plan, in which a prepaidbalance is billed against; or (2) a recurring-fees plan, in which aservices prepayment is to be received by a certain date; when thecustomer is associated with the piecemeal plan, determining that aremaining amount of the prepaid balance is insufficient to pay for thedesired content, and thereby triggering a first follow-up process,wherein the first follow-up process includes: storing a contentindication that indicates the item of content; and one or more of thefollowing: (1) incident to receiving notice that the remaining amount ofthe prepaid balance is large enough to pay for the item of content,communicating a message to the mobile device that includes a reminder topurchase the item of content wherein the message includes an actionablelink that, if acted on, facilitates a purchase of the item of content;(2) after a failed purchase attempt but prior to the remaining amountbecoming a sufficient amount, communicating a pre-order request to themobile device that, if accepted, will cause the item of content to bepurchased immediately when the remaining amount becomes the sufficientamount; and (3) automatically purchasing the content without any userinteraction when the remaining amount becomes the sufficient amount; andwhen the customer is associated with the recurring plan, determiningthat an immediate-payment option does not exist, and thereby triggeringa second follow-up process.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein theindication includes a purchase request.
 20. The system of claim 18,wherein the determining includes referencing a customer-profilesdatabase that includes information that indicates a type of service planthat the customer is associated with.